Congratulations! Here you are fresh out of your graduation gown, diploma clenched to your chest and ready to go and plunge into the job pool. You secure your first interview and are deflated when you are rejected because of no work experience. You show them your diploma and point to the professional letters on the sacred document. Again comes the no-no shake of the interviewer’s head. You need work experience but how can you get work experience if you cannot get a job. The answer is simple, try volunteering. You’ll be giving some of time for no financial compensation but the personal and vocational benefits will far outweigh that importance.
Volunteering is defined as performing an unpaid activity with a charity or non-profit organisation that makes a positive change to the wider community. Volunteering means improving the lives of members of a community or the environment around them.
Even a summer session of volunteering after graduation is a smart option for obtaining the work experience you need for jobs and placements within organizations for which you want to work. You will absolutely be able to find something that you love doing and will help further your career. Whether you volunteer in a specialized field bolstering your university degree or volunteer in a general field of endeavour because of your personal preferences, you are still adding priceless work experience to your resume.
In every volunteering opportunity is the chance to learn vital tools for job placement in your long-term employment. Some jobs require volunteer experience, especially in fields of environmental research. Here’s a chance to learn to implement and utilize skills of communication, team involvement and organisation that all potential employers seek in their new hires. Potential employers will also know that you are motivated in using your time constructively and in a positive way.
When you volunteer, you have the chance to expand your base of knowledge, getting hands-on student work experience in a sector you may not even have considered or it will give you practical knowledge in your field of interest. Did you know that around 60% percent of all jobs and placements are never advertised? The jobs are filled by internal or external networking. Imagine being surrounded by people excited about the same cause or field that you are. People you might not have ever met if you had not volunteered. Networking is one of the key elements in job placement in today’s employment market.
You will also find yourself in contact with respected professionals in your field. To be able to prime your CV with a reference from an expert in your field is invaluable. 73% of all surveyed employers would choose a candidate with volunteering experience over an applicant who has none.
Volunteering will improve your health and you will experience a heightened sense of well-being. Self-esteem and confidence is enhanced and you will find the task of interviewing for a job or placement is not so daunting after all.
In summary, how can your go wrong with a volunteer opportunity that enhances your immune system, straightens out the twists and turns of your career path and brings you into contact with all types of people and like-minded individuals which you can use to weave a cohesive web of contacts?
You can’t. So go volunteer. Its work experience.
Article source: Expert Articles
